!!TRIGGER WARNING: SUICIDE IS IMPLIED/MENTIONED!! DON'T READ IF IT TRIGGERS YOU

Nico 

I sat on the floor in the middle of the training arena, watching Clarisse and Reyna bicker about something.  We had just finished cleaning the majority of the weapons, and there was nothing left for us to do. 

Jason, who was sweeping the floor, sighed and propped his broom up against the wall. He cast a glance over at the two girls before walking over to sit next to me. 

We sat in silence for a few seconds before Jason cleared his throat and asked "What are you thinking about? What's bothering you? You have this scary look on your face." 

I blinked before forcing myself to smile. "Nothing. It's nothing. Don't worry about it." 

Jason raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying my answer. I wanted him to leave me alone, but it was obvious he wasn't going to. 

"Fine." I groaned, tilting my head back to stare at the ceiling. "I'm just thinking about the fact that we're going to be stuck in here for the rest of our lives." 

Jason scoffed at that and looked down at his hands. "I've already accepted my fate. As long as Perseus is King, there's no way out of here."

I stayed quiet, my thoughts going back to the time when I had first met Percy. I remembered how amazed I had been when he showed me his sword, Riptide. 

"I want to say that you're wrong, but I'm not going to give us false hope." I said after a few seconds of silence. "Plus, you've been stuck in here way longer than I have. If there was a way out, you would've taken it already." 

Jason fiddled with the bracelet on his wrist and smiled thinly. "Yeah, exactly. This place is a literal fortress. We're constantly under surveillance, and did I tell you about that time when I had tried to escape?" 

I raised an eyebrow and turned to face him. "No, you didn't. What happened?" 

"I was literally caught before I could even leave the palace. Perseus showed up and told the two demigods that had captured me to take me to the dungeons. I was whipped around 15 times." 

I winced at that, and Jason chuckled at the look on my face. "Exactly. After that lovely experience, I lost hope in ever getting out of here. Until you......"

He stopped talking and pursed his lips, keeping his gaze locked on the bracelet. I frowned and reached out to poke him on the shoulder. "What were you going to say? Don't worry, I'm not going to judge you or anything." 

Jason hesitated, but after I poked him again, he caved in and continued to speak. "When I saw you running towards me, and telling me that you were here to rescue us, I felt hopeful again. I genuinely thought that we were able to escape after being slaves to Perseus for several years." 

I bit my lip and turned away from Jason, trying to hide the guilty look on my face. I remembered that all too well. 

I had spent a good amount of time on finding and recruiting demigods that had managed to escape from Perseus' radar in an effort to oppose him. 

Why did I think that I stood an actual chance against my cousin? I knew he had been blessed by half of the Primordial Council, but I still attempted to fight him. What the Hades was I thinking? 

All that I had managed to do was to get myself captured and imprisoned. 

Go me. 

"Hey." Jason said softly, grabbing my arm and startling me out of my thoughts. I turned back to face him, and I was surprised to see that he was smiling at me. 

"I know exactly what you're thinking right now, and I'm telling you to stop. You did what everyone couldn't do, and that was assembling an army with the sole purpose of fighting Perseus. Even though you knew you didn't stand a chance against him, you still tried, and that's what matters."

I felt my cheeks turn warm, and Jason laughed before releasing my arm. "Oh, you should see your face right now!"

"Shut up!" I hissed, resisting the urge to slap him. "You can't just say stuff like that and- Whatever!" 

Jason winked and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get a word out, someone called my name. I glanced back to see Frank run into the room, his eyes wide and frantic. 

"Frank, what's the problem?" I asked as I got to my feet, brushing dust off of my pants. Beside me, Jason quietly did the same. 

"Just follow me! Quick!" Frank shouted, grabbing my wrist and pulling me out of the room. I allowed myself to be dragged down a hallway before we stopped in front of two massive glass doors. 

Frank let go before stepping back to point at the doors. His face was flushed, and he was breathing hard. "Y-You need to stop him. Just talk some sense into him, please! He won't listen to me!" 

I frowned and rubbed at my wrist. "What are you talking about? What's going on? I don't-" 

My eyes widened in disbelief and horror as I caught a glimpse of a figure standing on the railing that enclosed the balcony. Blonde hair fluttered in the wind, and the figure had their arms out as if they were attempting to fly. 

I ran towards the glass doors and threw them open before stepping out onto the balcony. What the Hades was he doing?!

"Will!"

My boyfriend turned his gaze to me before he returned his attention to the sky. I ground my teeth together in frustration, but I knew I had to stay where I was. 

I couldn't risk approaching him. Not like this. 

"Will! What are you doing? Get down, you're going to fall!" I shouted. He glanced at me again, and a small smile appeared on his face. 

"Nico, that's the whole point." 

My breath hitched as I suddenly understood why Frank was so scared and desperate. 

Will was putting himself in an extremely dangerous situation due to the fact that he wanted to die. 

Oh fuck no. 

I curled my fingers into a fist as I fought the urge to run over to my boyfriend and pull him down. Instead, I exhaled slowly and met Will's gaze. He was still smiling, but I could see tears beginning to gather at the corner of his eyes. 

"Listen, you're not thinking straight. Please, you need to get down from there." I begged. 

Will shook his head as his smile grew. "I'm sorry Nico, but I can't do that. I can't take this anymore. Being stuck in this palace, being forced to live as a slave. I'm better off dead. There's no point in living life like this." 

I felt my heart break as Will told me how he really felt. Why didn't he tell me this earlier? 

"Are you really okay with leaving just like that? You're not going to fight for your freedom?" I demanded. "You have people who care about you, Solace. You have me, along with the other demigods here." 

Will bit his lip, and I could tell that he was thinking about what I had just said. I decided to take the opportunity to continue speaking. 

"If you kill yourself now, you're letting Perseus have the final victory. You're basically letting him know that he defeated you completely. Do you really want to give that to him, Will? We're going to find a way out of here, and we're going to kill him. But I can't do that without you." 

Tears slid down Will's face as he lowered his arms slightly. I took a few cautious steps towards him, and luckily he remained still. 

"Please Will. You're my everything." I said softly. "I wouldn't know what to do with myself if you died. Come down."

My boyfriend stayed silent for a few seconds before he nodded slowly. He bent down slightly in preparation to jump down, but before he could do so, a particularly strong gust of wind hit us. 

Will let out a yelp as his body tipped backwards, and I lunged forwards in desperation, my hand reaching out to grab him. 

My fingers gripped the sleeve of his shirt, and I pulled Will towards me. We landed in a heap on the balcony, and I breathed a sigh of relief. 

Will shivered in fear as I wrapped my arms around him, lifting my head up so that my mouth was next to his ear. 

"Never do that again, do you hear me? You nearly gave me a heart attack."

Will's lips curved up into a smirk before he reached up to cup my cheek. "I'm sorry. I won't do that again. I love you, my angel. Thank you for talking sense into me." 

I gazed into his eyes before grabbing the back of his neck and smashing my lips onto his. 

I love you too. 

Word count: 1511

okay wow, that was extremely difficult to write. 

i hope that you're all doing okay, and if you ever need to talk, my private messages are always open. <3